Greg Abbott Attacks Constituents over Privatization
The State of Texas long ago declared war on Public Education. The state has constantly cut back investments into public education. Recapture rules send over 2 billion dollars from larger districts to the State of Texas. This “robinhood” program is meant to ensure equitable funding to all districts, however the lions share of that money is used to make up for state budget shortfalls, instead of going back into education.
Smaller districts, like Pearland ISD, have not had their rates of state compensation re-assessed in several years. This allows the state to hold onto the education funds, while laws, like HB1842, ensure that districts have to continually place the bottom 5% performing schools into IR. If a school is in IR for five consecutive years, the state has the right to shut the schools down, take over the district, or force the district to partner with a charter company to run the affected schools.
Performance analysis is based on one metric, the STAAR exams. The metrics schools need to hit are ever changing, since every year, the bottom 5% of schools can change. The exam itself has faced controversy for being unfair and biased.
What does all of this mean for students, and public education? It’s a dedicated, decades old attempt, to privatize the public education system. It is an attempt to profit off of Texas children, without any sense of accountability or equity. And, as proven time and again, it is a failed model, that will only further push Texas down in education ranking, from it’s current abysmal standing at 43rd in the nation.
Greg Abbott’s sudden concern in HISD comes on the heals of community push back against privatization. If Abbott was truly concerned about public education, he would work with his GOP allies, who control all major statewide offices, and both the Texas House and Senate, on repealing rules that harm local control of school districts, and who unfairly take public education money, for non-educational purposes. He would ensure that the head of the TEA, Mike Morath, an appointed position by the governor, would work with districts on following decades of education research, instead of simply teaching to a test. Another failed model, that directly contributes to the low standing of the Texas educational system.
More on the failures of privatization below:
The privatization of public schooling is cause for considerable concern. Students and their families increasingly face corporate, for- profit schools with unproven credentials as their only alternative to currently existing public schools. Teachers face a weakening of their labor rights when for-profit schools hire non-union teachers in order to keep their expenses to a minimum. Education researchers risk marginalization of pedagogical innovations that may adversely affect a company’s bottom line and condemnation of research that critiques private sector involvement in schooling. Social integrity and personal freedom are in jeopardy as corporations increasingly exert their influence on the curriculum and the discourse of schooling. (PDF) Privatizing Public Schools: Education in the Marketplace. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315613921_Privatizing_Public_Schools_Education_in_the_Marketplace [accessed Jan 03 2019].
